Auto Lighting Industry Manufacturer Sues to Stop Obama Mandate

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal advocacy group, announced that it had filed suit against several federal officials and departments, including Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her Department of Health and Human Services, on behalf of Grote Industries, an Indiana-based auto industry lighting manufacturer.

Another private business has stepped forward to challenge President Obama's contraception mandate requiring employers to offer workers health insurance that provides free contraception, including “morning after” pills that can cause abortion. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal advocacy group, announced that it had filed suit against several federal officials and departments, including Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her Department of Health and Human Services, on behalf of Grote Industries, an Indiana-based auto industry lighting manufacturer.

“Americans should be free to honor God at work, at home, and at church,” said Indianapolis attorney Mike Wilkins, who is working with ADF to represent the firm against the federal government. “They have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith. Forcing them to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. The Administration’s attacks on faith and business prove that it doesn’t respect either one.”

A family-run business founded in 1901 by William Grote, the company is a leading maker of vehicle lighting and safety systems with factories and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. According to the company's website, the present generation of owners are practicing Catholics who continue to hold firm “to the family values and work ethics set forth by our founder all those years ago.”

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, explains that the Grote family “seeks to run Grote Industries in a manner that reflects their sincerely held religious beliefs” — a goal that would be severely compromised by the HHS mandate.

“The government has no business deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and when and where their faith may be lived out,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Washington politicians can’t confine our faith to our homes and our churches. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is God-given, not government-driven.”

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